96: new chair

Bai Xinran ate in small bites, her head lowered the entire time.

Yu Heng sat across from her, and she stole a secret glance at him.

He was looking out the window, lost in thought.

"What are you looking at?" Yu Heng suddenly turned his head.

Bai Xinran quickly looked down and shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth. "Nothing."

Bai Xinran didn't say anything else and continued eating with her head down.

"Have you finished the design yet?" Yu Heng changed the subject.

"I've drawn a sketch," Bai Xinran said, putting down her chopsticks. "The details might need some more work."

"Send it to me." Yu Heng took out his phone.

Bai Xinran sent over the sketch saved on her phone.

Yu Heng opened it and squinted at it for a moment.

"Not bad," he nodded. "Keep working on it this afternoon. Once it's done, I'll find someone to do the 3D modeling."

"Thank you," Bai Xinran said softly.

"It's only right to reward a task well done."

He paused and looked at Bai Xinran. "Are you still streaming this afternoon?"

"Yes," Bai Xinran nodded. "At four o'clock sharp."

"How did the Captains and fans react?" Yu Heng asked.

Yesterday, in the heat of the moment, he had made her do those things in the stream. He hoped it wouldn't actually affect the broadcast; that would be losing the big picture for a small gain.

"The reaction..." Bai Xinran thought for a moment. "It was okay? Yesterday's stream revenue was about the same as before, over thirty thousand. There were a dozen or so new Captains, and many people even signed up for Captaincy after the stream ended, saying they came because of the hype."

Yu Heng nodded after hearing the numbers Bai Xinran provided.

Not bad, he hadn't overplayed his hand.

He stood up to clear the dishes, and Bai Xinran stood up as well, wanting to help.

"Just sit," Yu Heng said. "Have you recovered yet?"

Bai Xinran's movement stiffened, and she sat back down.

She watched as Yu Heng stacked the plates and carried them into the kitchen.

Her legs really were a bit weak; they were even shaking a little while she was eating just now.

But she didn't dare say anything, fearing Yu Heng would think she was being fragile.

When Yu Heng finished washing the dishes and came out, Bai Xinran was still sitting there dazed.

"What's on your mind?" Yu Heng sat down across from her.

"Nothing," Bai Xinran snapped out of it. "I was just thinking... what to stream this afternoon."

"Still doing a Just Chatting stream?" Yu Heng asked.

"Yeah," Bai Xinran nodded. "Maybe some gaming, depending on how I feel."

In her current state, gaming would probably be a struggle; her reactions would definitely be a beat slow.

"Anything is fine. After last night's session, even an idle stream today wouldn't hurt," Yu Heng checked the time on his phone. "It's almost two. Go back to your room and rest for a bit."

"Okay." Bai Xinran stood up, her steps still a bit unsteady.

Yu Heng narrowed his eyes as he watched her walk upstairs.

This girl was becoming more and more obedient.

The way she talked and interacted with him lately was completely different from before.

He leaned back into the sofa and opened WeChat.

Ning Yutong had sent a message—a screenshot of the TikTok backend data.

Ning Yutong: [Yu Heng, look! The video is almost at 100,000 likes! I've almost reached 10,000 followers!]

Yu Heng opened the screenshot; the data was indeed impressive.

It was posted last night; for a new account's first video to perform like this was excellent.

He replied: [Great. Keep posting. One video every three days. We'll continue filming next week.]

Ning Yutong replied almost instantly: [Mm-hmm! Okay! Thank you, Yu Heng~]

Yu Heng didn't reply further and exited the chat.

Who was the most popular in this TikTok niche right now?

Probably Daigula K; a single Hip-shaking dance video went viral, gaining ten million followers in a month.

With Ning Yutong's quality, even if she didn't get ten million in a month, reaching several million followers after half a year or a year of steady work would definitely be no problem.

As Yu Heng was thinking, the doorbell rang.

He opened his eyes and checked the time; it wasn't even two yet.

Who would be coming at this hour?

Yu Heng walked to the door and looked through the peephole.

Oh, a delivery.

The gaming chair he bought for Bai Xinran had arrived.

He had glanced at her old one; it really had to go, it was so dirty it couldn't be cleaned.

"Yu Heng, right? Gaming chair, please sign for it."

Yu Heng took the pen, signed his name, and said thanks.

The delivery man pushed the box inside and left.

Yu Heng closed the door and dragged the box into the living room.

He brushed the dust off his hands and looked at the large cardboard box on the floor.

There was a picture of the chair on the box, black and gray; it looked quite sturdy.

He crouched down and began to unbox it.

Hearing the noise, Bai Xinran shuffled out of her room in her slippers.

She had thrown on a T-shirt; as she walked, her silhouette was clearly visible, even the smaller outlines were quite distinct.

She looked down; whatever.

He'd seen everything there was to see anyway.

Yu Heng had already assembled the new chair and placed it in the middle of the living room.

Black mesh, gray frame, with adjustment buttons on the armrests.

"Try it out." Yu Heng pointed to the chair.

Bai Xinran walked over and sat down.

The angle of the backrest was just right, and the lumbar support was in the perfect position.

She leaned back; it was indeed much more comfortable than the previous one.

"How is it?" Yu Heng asked.

"It's very good," Bai Xinran said.

"Alright, I'll throw the old one away later," Yu Heng said.

"Okay," Bai Xinran nodded.

"Don't get the new one dirty," Yu Heng smiled. "Or I'll have to buy another one."

Bai Xinran's face flushed red. She didn't respond but quickly used her hands to cover the marks on the chair—she was only wearing that T-shirt!

"I'll be careful!"

Yu Heng was amused. "Alright, I'm teasing. If it gets dirty, we'll just buy another."

After saying that, he walked over to the sofa and sat down.

Bai Xinran pushed the chair back into her bedroom.

The living room fell silent.

It didn't stay quiet for long before the doorbell rang again.

He stood up, walked to the door, and saw Qin Ya standing outside through the peephole.

Yu Heng pulled the door open. "You're here. Come in."

Qin Ya looked up, stuffed her phone back into her pocket, and strode in, complaining, "The traffic was a bit heavy today. My mom was driving like a snail."

Yu Heng's gaze shifted past her toward the car parked by the curb.

Qin Lu still hadn't gotten out of the car.

"Go on up first, the equipment is all on," Yu Heng said to Qin Ya. He changed his shoes and headed straight out the door.

Qin Ya blinked at Yu Heng, then glanced back at the car, a mischievous smile appearing on her face.

She closed the door but didn't go upstairs; instead, she pressed against the window to peek outside.

Yu Heng walked up to the car; the passenger window was also closed.

He raised his hand and knocked on the driver's side window.

She looked at Yu Heng but didn't say anything or roll down the window.

Yu Heng pointed to the passenger seat and mouthed the word "unlock."

Qin Lu pursed her lips, shook her head, and reached for the gear shift.

She didn't want to talk to him, at least not right now.

The front of the car began to turn slowly; she wanted to drive away directly.

Yu Heng didn't step aside; instead, he took two steps forward and stood directly in front of the car, blocking her path.

Qin Lu slammed on the brakes, her anger flaring up again.

Childish!